Civil Rights Wade-Ins
N 30° 23.639 W 088° 54.099
16R E 317303 N 3363977
A Mississippi Historical Marker stands along Biloxi Beach, where multiple "wade-ins" took place in order to further the cause of civil rights.
Waymark Code: WMHTFR
Location: Mississippi, United States
Date Posted: 08/12/2013
Views: 14
The marker has two identical addendum plates, signifying that the marker was sponsored by Sigma Pi Phi Boulé. The marker has two faces, also identical, with one facing across the beach and out into the Gulf of Mexico, and the other facing the Biloxi Lighthouse. The text is:
On May 14, 1959, April 24, 1960, and June 23, 1963, the Biloxi beach front was the site of planned civil rights wade-ins demanding equal access to the public beach. On April 24, 1960, several citizens, both black and white, were injured and arrested, including the leader of the wade-ins, physician Dr. Gilbert R. Mason Sr. This series of protests gave birth to the Biloxi branch of the NAACP, major voter registration drives in 1960, and a 1968 federal court ruling opening the beach to all citizens.
Date Installed:: 2009
Organization that placed the object:: Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Related Website:: [Web Link]
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